Remembering a Father
by Yondaime Namikaze
Summary: It's the first Father's Day since Father's Fujimoto's death. Rin and Yukio each take time to remember their guardian and the memories of the fifteen years they shared with Shiro. Story told in two parts: (Part 1: Rin Remembers) and (Part 2: Yukio Remembers) A (late) Father's Day tribute fanfiction.


**Hi, everyone! I'm just going to come right out and say it. This is my first story in the** _ **Blue Exorcist**_ **fandom. I'm so excited to be here to share my writing with you all. I've been reading some stories for about a week, but I just recently started reading and watching this anime/manga. It has quickly become one of my favorites.**

 **Anyway, I had this idea for a short while and thought about writing it to post for Father's Day, but I forgot. This is a two-part story dedicated to everyone's favorite Father! (P.S. I'm not currently caught in this series, so hopefully I don't get anything wrong! I'm just about finished with the "Save Kyoto from the Impure King" arc.)**

* * *

Part 1: Rin Remembers

The June air was stifling in the old boy's dormitory at True Cross Academy. This old building did not have air conditioning and even with the windows open, it did little to alleviate the heat. Rin Okumura lay upon his bed and stared up at the ceiling. It was the first Sunday that he'd had off in a while and, yet, he did not feel like doing anything. Today was Father's Day, the first one that he and his twin brother Yukio would celebrate without Father Fujimoto, the man who had raised them.

All morning, Rin had lain in his bed, refusing to get up and do anything. He had even skipped breakfast which is something he only did when he overslept. As he stared up at the ceiling, Rin replayed the events that had brought him up to this point. It had not even been a year yet since his life had taken a nosedive. Less than a year ago, he was still living as a human, completely oblivious to who his true father was and to this world, a world that his own twin brother had known since they were seven. Rin still found it hard to believe that Yukio had studied, trained, and become an exorcist all without him knowing. How had Yukio managed to keep such a secret from him?

Father Fujimoto had kept secrets too, Rin knew. Rin was frustrated that he was the last to learn everything, that everyone had kept all the information about the whole "son of Satan" thing from him. Still, Rin could not bring himself to be mad about it anymore; he'd done the same to his classmates, fellow students that he considered friends.

Rin ran his fingers along the sheath of the Koma sword. Ever since Amaimon had so easily stolen the demon blade, Rin had been protective of it (well, at least, whenever Shura let him keep it). Father Fujimoto had taken this blade all for the sake of sealing his demonic powers…and then the former-Paladin had kept the Koma sword hidden away. Tatsuma Suguro, the high priest and father of Rin's friend Ryuji, had told them the whole story in his letter. Rin could still hear those words that Yukio had read to them on that day as he'd sat in the solitary confinement cell in Kyoto. His question from that day still played in his mind, begging for an answer. _**Why did Father Fujimoto save me?**_ Rin still did not have the answer…and he would probably never know.

All the childhood memories raced through Rin's mind. He'd lived fifteen blissful years in Father Fujimoto's monastery. How Rin had hated that place! Back then he'd wanted nothing more than to walk away from that place forever, but, damn, what he wouldn't give to return there again to see Father Fujimoto waiting there with that goofy smirk of a smile.

Rin could still hear the words Father Fujimoto had spoken to him as he'd walked away to the interview at the local grocery store. "If you don't like me lecturing you, then why don't you try showing me how much you have grown up?" Those words had mocked Rin on that day. _**How dare he say such a thing to me? What kind of father tells their son that**_? Rin had wondered then. Now, though, Rin wondered what Father Fujimoto would think of him.

 _ **Would he be proud of me?**_ Rin wondered to himself. _**I'm not the person I was that night. I'm an Exorcist-in-Training. I have friends. I'm not human…but I'm also not demon. Father Fujimoto, what would you think if you could see me now?**_

Still, Rin found himself replaying every happy memory from his childhood. All the birthday celebrations. All the quirky conversations. It all came racing back in an instant.

" _Come on, Dad! Tell us about Mom," Rin had once asked Father Fujimoto one night. The curiosity had been killing both him and Yukio. There were so many things they didn't know and many questions that their father just wouldn't answer. He'd always been so cryptic. "What was she like?"_

" _I don't know. I picked you guys up under a bridge." That was the answer he'd always given them._

" _Ah, not again!" Rin had seriously hoped to hear the truth that time. Though his father had always sworn that was the truth, it'd always sounded like a lie, a scapegoat statement that the priest could use to quickly change the subject._

" _It's the truth!" Then, of course, he'd launch into some fantastical story about a watermelon floating down a river._

Rin rolled onto his side, repositioning himself. _**I wonder what the truth actually is**_. He knew so little about his and Yukio's lives before Father Fujimoto took them into his care. If Satan was their real father, then who actually was their mother? What had happened to her? With Father Fujimoto gone, he'd probably never know those answers.

Though there were a lot of quirky and silly memories, there were serious ones too. Winter was a season that resonated deeply in Rin's memories of Father Fujimoto. When it snowed, Father Fujimoto was always there to help the twins build snowmen and launch snowballs in hard-core snowball fights.

One fond snowy day memory resonated with Rin and he knew that Yukio cherished the same memory. Father Fujimoto had taken them out to the woods on a snowy afternoon. That day, it was quiet and peaceful, just the bare trees and softly falling snow…and them.

"The first time I met you boys," their father had told them on that day, "it was snowing. Just like today."

Looking back on the happy memories now, Rin realized too late that Father Fujimoto had always given the best advice. One piece of advice that, deep down, had stuck with Rin was the words that Father Fujimoto had spoken to him on that day at school. It was the first time someone had called him a demon and Rin had been angry. His temper had flared and he'd hurt the classmate who had insulted him. His teachers were frightened and, with no remaining options, they'd called Father Fujimoto who came to the school immediately to mediate the issue.

" _Listen, Rin," Father Fujimoto had told him that day as he'd held the small boy close to him, "if you don't change your ways, you're going to find yourself all alone someday."_

Only looking back now, did Rin realize how important those words had been. They were buried so deep into him that he barely ever thought back to that day anymore. Still, there was more advice that Father Fujimoto had given to Rin that day.

" _Instead of using your power to hurt others, you should be using it to help them. I want you to have a whole bunch of friends. I want you to grow up to be a cool guy, the one the girls go crazy for."_

" _What are you talking about?" Rin had wondered at the time. "How am I ever going to be someone like that?"_

" _You try. If you work hard and are nice to people, then before you even know it, you'll be that cool guy with all the friends."_

Rin closed his eyes and smiled as the memory of those words of advice came flooding back. _**Now I understand. I just wish I'd learned it sooner…so it didn't have to be this way.**_ The smile faded though as Rin remembered that day and what had brought Father Fujimoto to tell him these words of advice. Opening his eyes, Rin shifted to lie on his back once again.

 _ **I was a horrible son. All those things I did…everything that I said. How did Father Fujimoto put up with me? Why did he risk his own life to save mine?**_

That day, in the classroom, Rin had hit Father Fujimoto so hard that the injuries to his ribs had sent him to the hospital. Though the priest had played it off by saying that a nurse with huge boobs would treat him, Rin had still felt guilty. Father Fujimoto was always downplaying everything, making it all seem less bad than it actually was.

Looking back now, Rin's smile returned but only slightly as he remembered a conversation he'd had with the priest on their last night together before all Hell broke loose….literally.

 _Father Fujimoto had sat him down to "confess his sins" or something like that. His guardian had drilled him about his injuries and Rin had made up lies to avoid telling Father Fujimoto that he'd gotten himself caught up in another fistfight._

 _The last lie about how he'd ended up with a trace of a nosebleed might have taken it a bit too far because Father Fujimoto, who'd been stoic and impassive about Rin's answers up until that point had immediately jumped with enthusiasm. "What?! Let's go after her! Show me where she is, Rin!"_

 _Rin had not expected that lie to be so effective, but he probably should have. Living in a monastery with no women did lead to a rather…interesting lifestyle and upbringing. Of course, once Father Fujimoto realized that it had been nothing but a lie, he did not go easy on Rin. He had stood, tall and intimidating, over a downed Rin and gave him a reminder that he did not want to hear. "The day will soon come when you must leave this monastery and strike out on your own and as your guardian, it's my duty to see that you do so."_

It had only gone downhill from there as the time of his "awakening", as Father Fujimoto had called it, had drawn nearer. That terrible night, Father Fujimoto had saved Rin, time and time again. From the possessed boy in the alleyway. From the demons that plagued the city. From a nasty fall off the rooftops. Then, his final act of saving grace…from Satan himself by way of his ultimate sacrifice.

The memory of that night was burned into Rin's mind. It had been a blur of activity, but Rin could never forget all that had happened, every little detail that ticked time closer to where it was now. On that night, Rin had finally learned the truth of who he really was. There was no more fake illusion. The truth had been revealed in its entirety and Father Fujimoto and the others in the monastery (exorcists, Rin now knew) had fought bravely to ensure his safety. Then, Rin had ruined it all, his pride had refused to let Father Fujimoto save him.

 _Father Fujimoto had devised a plan to leave the monastery and get Rin to safety, but Rin had not seen it that way. He had been angry and frustrated by all that had happened that day and he'd let those emotions surface, getting in the way of everything that Father Fujimoto had planned. With his own words, Rin had ruined everything._

" _You're not my father! You're nobody to me! Don't ever let me see you acting like my father again!"_

Those were the last words Rin would ever say to Father Fujimoto. These last words…Rin could still hear himself scream them out and he would give anything to take them back. He wished now as he had back then that he'd had time…time to apologize and time to rethink his actions, to start the night over. If only he'd had time, it would not have ended this way.

Tears flowed from Rin's eyes now, just as they had then, when he had finally sheathed the Koma sword once again…and looked upon the bloodied but silent form of his guardian. The days that had followed had slowly gotten easier as Rin had begun his studies at the Exorcist Cram School and found a group of friends. Still, the pain was there and it would always be there; it hurt to remember that he, Rin Okumura, was the one sole reason why Father Fujimoto was no longer with them. Yukio had reminded Rin of that painful realization on his first day at the Cram School.

"I…I'm so sorry," Rin whispered softly to himself so as not to disturb Yukio who seemed to be concentrating on something at his desk. _**It's all my fault and...I just wish it hadn't ended the way it had. I'd give anything to take it all back and change what had happened that night.**_ In a whisper, Rin spoke four words to no one in particular. The person he wished that he could say them to was not there and never would be there ever again. "Happy Father's Day…Dad."

* * *

 **It actually took me awhile to write this. Probably because I had this idea of how I wanted it to turn out and I just refused to put this story out there until it reached that point. I hope that you enjoyed this first part of Remembering a Father. Also, I hope that Rin did not slip into OOC, but I feel that he'd still be torn up over what happened. I mean…that's not something you just recover quickly from and then forget about.**

 **So, Part 2 will feature Yukio and his memories of his father. I'm hoping to post it within the next couple days. Thank you all for reading!**

 **Posted: June 20, 2017  
My Dad's Birthday!**


End file.
